We finally found a shop inside a jewelry type mall that had pearls and I was afraid they would be incredibly high priced, but after much hunting through strands and bargaining, I was able to bring their price down to what I felt was acceptable. They were very shiny and beautiful and I bought 7 strands. I have wanted black pearls for years, but the only nice quality ones were their individual pearls for sale and they wanted 10 yuan, or about 1.30 per pearl and absolutely would not budge on their price. They said that 10 yuan was still wholesale and that individual pearls are their best quality and that is why they are not on strands. I could see that a necklace of those was going to be pricey... more

continued from part 1

Since we weren't seeing any pearls yet, I asked a young guy about 20 years old who was selling jade in a store if he spoke English. He said yes, and our conversation consisted of this:

"Can you tell me where I can find people who are selling pearls?"

"Yes, yes, pearl"

"Ummm...yes, pearls. Can you tell me where I can buy some pearls?"

"What is pearl? It is like jade?"

"No, pearls are white. They are not a stone like jade. They grow in oysters. You know, in the ocean....water. They take them out and make necklaces", all said while... more

January 10, 2007

Today is our last day in Guangzhou and since I got a request from some family members to please buy some more pearls, I decided to head over to the Pearl and Jade Market. I previously bought 5 strands in just a regular street market with our guide when I was here over a week ago, but didn't know how to go back to that market, and wanted a much larger selection to choose from. We only had two hours to get to the market and back before we needed to check out of our hotel and leave for our swearing in ceremony at the U.S.... more

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Wendy's boys were getting hungry and even though Jeff and I had recently returned from McDonald's with our children for lunch, I offered to go there with her since she wasn't quite sure how to get there. It's not a long walk, but you do have to cross over the bridge into Guangzhou, and walk through a few busy intersections.

On our first trip to this McDonald's when we were here over a week ago, we were with a different friend who was adopting an older deaf boy. We got quite the second looks with our Caucasian faces, a Haitian daughter, 2 Chinese sons, and sign... more

Continued from part one

While I was trying to cash traveler's checks at the Bank of China, we ran into Wendy, another adoptive Mom with a large family like ours. She is here adopting her 8th child and we had previously run into her 9 days ago when we had both arrived at the Victory Hotel but didn't yet have our newest children. She has her six year old bio son with her and is adopting a five year old boy. Her new son is from the Guangdong Province so she has spent her entire time here in Guangzhou. I thought we had "Little Emperor" syndrome with Caleb until I met her son. He is a doll, but a handful!... more

January 9, 2007

While Jeff stayed at the hotel waiting for the "all clear" from Raymond that our paperwork at the consulate was OK, I went over to the Bank of China to cash some traveler's checks. Well, I thought I was going to. After standing in a long line, I was informed that the earthquake over 10 days ago in Taiwan had affected the phone lines for approving anything like traveler's checks and that they would not accept them.

We brought a large amount of money in traveler's checks hoping that... more

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Our guide in Caleb's province shared with me that she was adopted herself when she was abandoned 21 years ago in the rural countryside of the Hubei Province. The woman who found her kept her for a few months but she became pregnant with her own biological child at the same time that the grandmother in the home became ill.

It was too much of a burden for their family, so they ended up giving her... more

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This trip, however, one of our guides who was an older woman shared that she now lives in Guangzhou because she was displaced during the Cultural Revolution. She was living in Shanghai, but because she was a university student-- and considered a threat because she was educated-- she was sent out to the rural countryside to work with farmers. She ended up later being sent to Guangzhou and was told she could not return to Shanghai even though her family was there.

She ended up marrying here, a man who also was originally from Shanghai and displaced during the Cultural Revolution.... more

As I sit in my hotel room in Guangzhou, I am amazed at the changes I have seen in China since we were here 6 years ago. Economic reform is everywhere, and just effective January 1st, motorcycles are no longer allowed in Guangzhou. Our guide said that it is due to safety issues since you might often see entire families of Mom, Dad and child all on one motorcycle weaving in and out of traffic.

When we were here in 2000, bicycles were everywhere in Bejing,... more

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I was happy to see the nurses at the medical appointment test Caleb for colorblindness...he doesn't seem to care what color his shirt and pants are when getting dressed in the morning, but I'm happy to know that he just doesn't have a taste for fashion rather than being truly colorblind!

After the medical exam, we headed back to the hotel and the other children were just rousing from their beds for the day. I was glad to see that they could sleep in because Alyssa has been quite sick the past few days. She hasn't wanted to eat much other than fried rice... more